Parties are brewing

My oldest is turning 12 this month and she has been BEGGING for a Chinese New Year theme party for years. We kept putting it off because I wasn't sure it was something that we could afford. It isn't going to be a cheap party, but it isn't extremely expensive either. We are looking at spending right about $100 to $120 for the entire party (including food).

Friday will be SUPER busy because I have a LOT of fortune cookies to bake for the party because one of our games is a "guess the number of fortune cookies in the jar." After talking with Peanut about the plans, we designed the invitations together.

Then we started planning the party. We decided that we would start the party by having guests take a guess at the number of fortune cookies in the jar, and then sit down for lunch. We are serving sweet & sour chicken, ramen noodles (longevity noodles), and fried rice. We will have orange juice & Sprite to drink.

After lunch, we will make paper lanterns out of construction paper and determine who guessed the number of fortune cookies (or came the closest). I have also done a lot of research on Chinese New Year and going to do a little trivia with the girls.

When the food has had a chance to settle, we will eat the cake. I am making a simple cake with white frosting. Then I purchased colorful fondant and will create fortune cookies to put on top.

Parties are not complete without sending guests home with favors, and Chinese New Year is not complete without red envelopes. Well, we ran into a snafu when the Party City near us did not carry the envelopes. That meant I had to practice making Chinese characters so I could create red envelopes.

Happy New Year

Tested out different metallic Sharpie markers to decide which one I liked best

Final product - not too shabby

These things are time consuming ... seriously. It takes forever for me so I am breaking them up over the next few days. In addition to the envelopes, that will be filled with some money, guests will get to take home an orange and red rock candy.

My daughter is super excited, which makes this a win for me.

How about you? What lengths do you go to make your child's party a success?